I would really like there to be a module for the Productivity lines that supports SSI and BiSS-C encoder inputs for position information. This would really expand the position capabilities of the PLC line to support a much higher resolution. I do often use an absolute encoder in rotary applications, but I have been doing more linear things lately and really like them for linear position as well. Being able to have an absolute position that is ready at power up, no homing needed, no reference marks, no ladder memory workarounds for storing and loading incremental position like we have to do now in Productivity. Absolute works great. Especially because you can get them down at 0.001" linear resolution and even greater for relatively cheap ($200-300 for the reading head and $5/ft for magnetic tape), and have lengths anywhere from a few inches up to 20-30 meters long if you wanted. The SSI and BiSS-C are supposedly free from any licensing so there should be nothing stopping a module with the interface being made, and they seem to be the most common interfaces I always see in absolute encoders for years now.

https://www.celeramotion.com/zettlex/support/technical-papers/biss-and-ssi-an-overview/

https://www.encoder.com/biss-encoders

I would also like if the ABSE instruction was updated to allow more than 12-bit input. Maybe double it's capability up to 24-bit? I know parallel output encoders are rare these days but it is still useful to have more capability here. it would also allow a converter to be used in the meantime until an SSI module is created that converts SSI to parallel grey code so that higher res encoders can be used. Simply updating the math behind the instruction shouldn't be too much work to add.